TIES?!

Not usually one to comment on fashion but I agree with m_1 above that ties are great. At some point in time (probably the early 2000s), the common accepted viewpoint became that if you wore a suit and tie, then you are a stiff working person. Slowly, with the casualization of the workplace and the rise of the tech sector post 2010 with their fucking beanbags and pet-friendly offices with smelly dogs running around everywhere, the jeans and t-shirt combo to the office became ubiquitous as a way of "sticking to the man" as it were, a way of showing people that you belong to the "cool jobs" club, that you were different from the masses who had to wear a suit and tie to the workplace. With that the tie became a symbol of the corporate noose as a poster above pointed out.

Ironic thing is as more and more of workplaces around the world took up the trend of casualization with Goldman creating headlines last year when it allowed employees to wear jeans, there is nothing unique or different anymore in being able to wear jeans to the office. Heck, you'd be sending a message that you are different now, precisely if you "are able" to wear a suit and tie to the office. The big difference from years past is that the folks today who wear formal clothing to the office are likely doing it because they want to, not because their bosses are making them to.

Probably a longer answer than what you were looking for but there you go.